The Record of Unusual Creatures - Chapter 666

Chapter 666: Hodeceus

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Since the disappearance of the Orb of the Holy Synod a year ago, the Beinz Diocese seemed to have fallen in a state of trouble. In just one year, a series of major events had happened on this supernaturally distorted land—the collapse of the Dragonspine Ridge, the siege of the Rock Giants, the revival of the First Born, the destruction of the diocese, the death of a bishop, and finally the entire sacred lake was turned into a giant crystal mine by orbital bombardment. If each of the events that had happened in this small area were to happen in other places, they would have been recorded in history. Today, the diocese once listed as a sacred land had changed beyond recognition. Almost all the civilian settlements had evacuated. Only the Knight Bases and temporary monasteries remained. The population here was still about the same as a year ago. However, the composition of the population was almost 100% soldiers and monks. Even the gutsy mercenaries of the past had now kept a distance from this place.

However, the trouble of the Beinz Diocese was not over yet; it was not long after the mining operation and utilization of the crystal pit started, the land had once again become the battlefield of the Holy War between the Disciples of Glory and the Cult of Origination.

Today, the Beinz diocese and the west side of the diocese, which did not belong to the sphere of Holletta’s influence, had become the battlefront for the Disciples of Glory and the cults. This area was centred on the crystal mine pit. On the eastern side of the pit was the remnant of Dragonespine Ridge, the main forces of the Knights of the Church and the Knights of the Kingdom were stationed there. The high peaks on the west side of the pit were the Werewolf tribal territory. Hidden beneath those peaks were secret fortress that The Cult of Origination had built over the years. The Werewolf tribal state was extremely angry with these infidels hidden under their nose and regarded this insult as an insult. Therefore, their belligerence towards the Cult of Origination was no less weak compared to the fanatical believers of the Disciples of Glory in the east side of the pit.

In terms of strength, the cults hidden in Sacrad Mountain were overwhelmingly disadvantageous. They were surrounded and there was no aid forthcoming. The fearsome snow wolf cavalry and the two battalion of knights sealed off all roads around the western mountains. However, the cults had not shown any signs of backing down, they were dauntless, determined to kill any intruders who enter the mountains. This kind of self-confidence could be the result of a kind of mind control, or it could be that they really believed that by dying a martyr in a holy war, their fresh and blood would return to the Goddess in glory—you cannot argue fanaticism with reason.

The group set out from the royal city to the Knights’ camp in the Beinz diocese through the portal. As the glow of the portal dimmed, Hao Ren found himself in a wide hexagonal hall. The walls around the hall were crystal-like and radiant with magic. The ground on the centre of the hall depicted a huge and complicated teleportation circle. There were three-member guards in each corner of the hall, which consisted of a high-ranking mage in a Master robe, and two elite knights with bright armour and magic patterns floating on their armours.

The place was heavily guarded like an important military base.

Lily saw a knight in the corner of the hall had a pair of ear on the head. She waved happily at him and said hello. “Hi, I’m a fellow werewolf too—of husky variety…”

“Stop howling. People are standing guard,” Hao Ren quickly dragged Lily back. He then looked around. “This place is gorgeous… I thought the frontline of the diocese was a messy pigpen with cowhide tents and all that…”

Ophra laughed. “Of course there are such places, but they are in the bases on the ground. Come on. Let me show you something. Though all-powerful alien like you may not find it clever, in my opinion it is a miracle. Allow me show off once.”

“The ground base?” Hao Ren muttered quietly before following Ophra walked out of the teleporting hall.

He was startled by what he saw when he stepped outside.

It was magnificently shining fortress.

A huge crescent square stretched out before his eyes. Elite knights and magic soldiers were lining up on the square. Neatly arranged, tall buildings with thick walls on the periphery surrounded the square in the centre. Between the buildings were elegant-looking magical minarets. The bright light at the top of the minarets were dancing as they communicated with each other, suggesting that the whole complex might be an energy system: it was rare to see such a massive energy supply system in this world.

Staring in awe at the square and things around it, Hao Ren found that the building materials of these structures were not the same as the ordinary Holletta buildings. The material was obviously man-made and very high-end. They were smoother than rocks, more exquisite than bricks with a layer of shimmering crystal shell on the smooth surface, giving a feeling of glaze. Hao Ren had never seen anything like this on the planet.

The designs and arrangement of the buildings reminded them of a military installation. At first glance, they had thought that they had come a fortress. However, in this completely abandoned Beinz diocese filled with cliffs and pits, there seemed to be no place for building such a military base.

Stretching her neck and looking around, Lily suddenly found that the landscape was somewhat out of place: there was not any mountains; in the mountainous Beinz area, mountains should be everywhere. She asked in surprise. “Where are the mountains?”

“Below us,” said Ophra, smiling as she took them onto a circular platform beside the Crescent Square. There was railing around a hole in the centre of the platform. Hao Ren looked down and was surprised to discover that down below was the crystal pit that his orbital bombardment had created, and the place he stood was obviously flying in the air!

“Welcome to Hodithus—our aerial fortress, which The Pope and the twelve Royal Mages had personally involved in its design and construction, and it took only less than a month to get it up from the ground,” said Ophra, voice full of praise. “This is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen… Of course, I’m talking about manmade thing.”

“Wow…” Lily was wide-eyed for a long moment before she exclaimed in awe. “Cool!”

“Is it cooler compared to yours?” Ophra laughed. “This is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen in my life, but I heard from Becky that there are things that are far beyond human imagination in other worlds, more magnificent miracles, and even cities that fly between the stars. Although I haven’t seen them yet, I can imagine that. Compared with those things, Hodithus is too primitive.”

“It’s still very cool!” Lily yelped. “Magic Floating City! This name sounds like it!”

“This husky always overreacts,” said Vivian, pressing Lily’s head to calm her down, but she herself was in awe too. “How did you do that? I know about your magic technology… it seems your air force is still consisted of griffins and a flying magicians. The only dwarven steam-powered aircraft needs refuelling every one hundred kilometres. How could you suddenly create the Floating City?

“Thank to the pit below,” Ophra pointed at the pit beneath them. “The crystals, they are magical: with just a proper handling, they can maintain a certain magical effect for a long time, so we have created a long-lasting floating stones—the shiny bricks that you see is. The “enamels” on the surface of those bricks are made of crystal dust. The entire floating fortress is made of floating stone. The hundreds of magical arrays on the outer walls keep the fortress in position and provide power. It requires a hundred higher-level magicians and thousands of magic apprentices to control. At present, we are still not very clear about the usage and battle tactics of this floating fortress, but anyway, it is already one of Holletta’s symbols of power. At least I think so.”

“With that crystals?” Hao Ren had never expected that the crystal mines could have been so useful. “I already knew there bound to create problems with orbital bombardment.”

Ophra looked at Hao Ren. “Is leaving us these crystal mines in violation of your organisation’s protocol?”

Hao Ren thought for a moment and poked at the MDT that was on his shoulder. “I remember we have not breaking any rules, have we? –According to the situation at that time.”

The MDT knocked on Hao Ren’s head. “Do you have to ask me about this thing? Has your employee’s handbook gone to the dog?”

Lily’s ears stood erect. “Nonsense, Mr. Landlord has never let me read his handbook!”

Everyone: “…”

Hao Ren blinked and said, “… well, I think it is not against the protocol. Although it seems to have affected your development, but it was done to prevent your civilisation from becoming extinct. I remember this as an exception.”

What Hao Ren had not mentioned was that the invention of a magic floating city by a planetary civilisation might seem to be a major event, but probably, no one in the Space Administration would blink an eye, much less in violation of the rules…

The magic floating city of Hodeceus was occupying the sky in the Beinz area, like a monster looking down at Sacred Mountain where the cults were hiding. Meanwhile, what was the brain monster that seemed to be in a desperation was up to?

Chapter 667: Sacred Mountain

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

 

The huge aerial fortress was hovering directly above the crystal pit. A miraculous facility resembling a small town, it had an inverted, cone-shaped base and two layers of solid, ring-shaped walls. There were dozens of magic towers between the two city walls, providing protection to the fortress. It looked spectacular, of course, but there were also many flaws. Hao Ren could see that the fortress idea was very simple-minded: it was simply a fortress lifted up in the air; other than the turrets, it had no escort fleet or anti-aircraft weapons. It may have been a very powerful weapon on that planet, but it was far from invincible. This monster invention of Holletta was just a rudimentary design; it still had a long way to go before it would become a mature strategic application. Nevertheless, the aerial fortress was still an inspiring invention.

Ophra had introduced them to the construction process of the aerial fortress. The foundation of Hodeceus came from Dragonspine Ridge: After the main peak of the mountains collapsed, the remaining peaks began to teeter. The pope boldly used his divine skills to cut off the top of one of the peaks and turned it upside down before he moved it to the crystal pit for processing as the base of Hodeceus. The mine pit was closed for nearly a month. Many brilliant mages had entered the mine under the leadership of 12 masters mages. Working like masonry artisans, they rebuilt the peak. To ensure confidentiality, the entire construction process did not involve any ordinary workers. A few days prior when the one month was up, the magical fog above the crystal pit was resolved and Hodeceus rose into the air before the stunned faces of the world.

It was also the ascension of Hodeceus that shook the highest echelons of the Cult of Origination. The elusive cultists had finally made a mistake and given away their whereabouts. The knights found that the cultists were hiding in the mountains in the west.

Perhaps, even the pope of the Disciples of Glory and the 12 master mages who built Hodeceus could not have imagined that the first battle after the flotation of the sky fortress would actually be a holy war between the Disciples of Glory and the cult. The battlefield was just right next to the crystal pit. It was once the sacred lake, where the final assembly of Hodeceus was completed. It was also the western fortress of the Church, the edge of the werewolf tribal state’s sacred land and simultaneously the lair of the cultists. If one did not experience this personally, no one would have believed that all these things had actually come together at the same place at the same time. While the Church was shocked by the hidden lair of the cult under their nose, Hao Ren also had a deep suspicion about the conspiracy of the Cult of Origination and the brain monster. In any case, hiding in such a place called for great courage, and the risk was always equal return. The greater the risk the Cult of Origination took, the bigger their conspiracy would be. So, when Hao Ren saw Hodeceus, he did not feel relieved for their increased combat strength, instead he became even more worried.

Even though the floating fortress was hovering over their heads, the cultists did not flee, which meant that their conspiracy and back support were strong enough to offset pressure brought on by the floating fortress.

The knights stationed on Hodeceus were in high spirits. It was hard to tell how many commanders were able to calm down and ponder these hidden dangers, but Ophra had to already be on guard. After giving them a tour of the fortress, she headed over to the floating city’s command center with her team to discuss the Sacred Mountain offensive. The design of Hodeceus was very simple. There were two walls, a barrack, and an air defense mortar. The inner layer consisted of a training ground, a griffin platform, arsenal, as well as a magic reactor and the like. The command center was located on an artificial hillock in the center of the floating city, overlooking two-thirds of the fortress.

In the command center, Hao Ren and his entourage saw the commanders there. Some of them were familiar faces: Elson, the old werewolf; Cardinal Orben, the king’s chief advisor; Prince Hoffman, and several other high-ranking officers as well as church leaders they had met before. In the face of other strange faces, Hao Ren and his entourage just nodded at them—it did not matter if they were strangers to them; they just pretended to be acquainted. It was basically a pretentious occasion—pretending to know each other and pretending to be supportive.

When the group of “outsiders” came into the command center, everyone in the meeting became as quiet as a church mouse. Ophra pointed to a burly man at the table and took the opportunity to introduce him. “This is Uruk, the leader from the werewolf tribe. He and his werewolf cavalry will lead you into Sacred Mountain.”

Hao Ren and his entourage’s eyes landed on the werewolf leader. He was the most eye-catching person in the meeting. Not only was he burly and tall, but he was also wearing attire that was not reminiscent of Hollettan style. His clothes were made of rough fabric, decorated with leather ornaments and an animal-teeth necklace on his neck. This made him look like a fearless, nomadic leader. Uruk was in the form of a werewolf. The black fur on his cheeks and the wolf ears on top his head made him look ferocious as well as rough. When he saw Hao Ren, he opened his mouth to reveal a row of sharp teeth, which glittered coldly. “So, the people we’ve been waiting for have finally arrived—you have a way to get ordinary people into the mountains?”

Hao Ren nodded. “I have a type of protective crystal, which allows ordinary people to resist the brain monster’s mind control.”

Uruk nodded, got to his feet and walked out. “Okay, let’s get started.”

Hao Ren had thought of holding a discussion with them, but the hasty werewolf shocked him. “Please wait a second—do you just want to go like this? Don’t you want to discuss the plan first?”

“We’ve discussed the detailed plan.” Uruk pointed at the Hollettan people on the scene. “Moving as swift as the wind is the best way to solve all problems. We werewolves don’t like foreigners staying in the Sacred Mountains for too long. The sooner this matter is resolved, the better.”

Uruk left the room after uttering those words, leaving Hao Ren and the others looking at each other. Lily had been holding up her hand for a long time, wanting to say hello to her fellow species. However, she did not have a chance to interpose. “How can he be so rash?”

“That’s how he is,” said Ophra, rubbing her eyebrows. “Please don’t be offended. The werewolves are all friendly people, Uruk too, although he is a bit special. I’ve met him more than once; he will be waiting outside patiently.”

Elson beckoned to Hao Ren, “Don’t bother about that guy. His wife only gave him two days. Come! Let me brief you about the route in the mountains.”

Hao Ren had wanted to ask what he meant by “His wife only gave him two days”, but it was not the right time to ask, obviously. He motioned his men to come up closer to look at the map. They stood in a circle at the conference table. Elson tapped the table and a map instantly appeared at the center of the table. It was like a shrunken version of the actual terrain with clouds and mountains. Lil Pea saw this and jumped out from Hao Ren’s collar immediately as she thought that the water on the map was real…

The little mermaid fell flat on the table before Hao Ren picked her up and shoved her back into his clothes hurriedly, nodding at everyone in an embarrassed manner. “Please carry on, please carry on…”

Elson did not mind it. He waved his hand and pointed at the snow-capped peak in the middle of the map. “This is the werewolf’s Sacred Mountain…”

Naturally, Hao Ren had heard the name more than once from Ophra out of curiosity. He knew that the Sacred Mountain was a vital sacred place for the werewolf tribal state. Many years ago, the werewolves migrated from the southern part of the mainland to the west because of a plague. After crossing the mountain, the plague that infected their community miraculously disappeared. At that time, the werewolf ancestors thought that this magical mountain had sheltered their people, thus calling it Sacred Mountain. Since then, years had passed and the plague became an inconspicuous incident in the history books. The sacred nature of Sacred Mountain had become increasingly unshakable in the werewolf tribe.

The werewolves did not allow outsiders to set foot on Sacred Mountain because they believed that Sacred Mountain shielded the werewolves from affliction for thousands of years and foreigners stepping into the mountains would destroy the “sacred barrier”. This would then allow all kinds of disasters, which had been blocked by Sacred Mountain to make a comeback. In order to protect Sacred Mountain, the werewolf tribal state maintained a strong wolf cavalry unit, and this unit had never let down their guard for thousands of years. However, they did not expect there to be pagans who could elude the wolf cavalry and remain under their radar for so long.

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Chapter 668: Werewolf Cavalry

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

 

Sacred Mountain towered into the clouds and consisted of three peaks. The highest peak was even more majestic than the former main peak of Dragonspine Ridge. Due to the extremely high terrain, snow and ice capped the mountain all year round. The mountain’s steep terrain turned people away, while courageous werewolves treated it as a training ground for the young in their tribe. When young werewolves entered adulthood, they would set off alone, carrying only three days of rations to scale the mountain. Only those who successfully crossed the mountain and brought specific prey back from the eastern side would be acknowledged as being able to become independent. The highest peak of Sacred Mountain, the Sunburn Peak was the goal for the best of the young werewolves. The youngest werewolves who were the bravest—or sometimes the stupidest and boldest—would climb the summit with their bare hands, then take a piece of mountain rock. It was a symbol of heroism. The mountain rock would then be inlaid in the tribe’s totem pole by the elders and become a lifetime of glory for the werewolf. It was said that hundreds of the best werewolves challenged the peak each year, but only less than 30 % of them were successful. Under the unremitting efforts of these brave werewolves for thousands of years, the elevation of Sacred Mountain was now almost two meters lower than when the werewolves first migrated there.

In fact, it was also said that at one point, the werewolf tribal leaders had discussed whether to control the enthusiasm of the young. The overzealous pups had been trying to dig the rocks from the top of Sacred Mountain all day, and they were quickly rounding off the top of the mountain.

Eighty percent of the werewolves on Holletta lived near Sacred Mountain. The majestic mountain and surrounding vast lands were enough to accommodate the large number of werewolves, who formed a tribal society. Each tribe had its own leader, and all the leaders formed a tribal council, which became the ruling class of the werewolves. It was said that this social form had been in existence since the Ancient Magic Kingdom, perfectly fitting the tradition of the werewolves: it paid attention to both bloodline and unity. Therefore, the tribal-state system brought about stability to the werewolf society for thousands of years. They became an ancient nation that was comparable to the Kingdom of Holletta.

Uruk, who was sent by the werewolf tribal nation to liaise with Holletta, was one of such tribal chiefs. His tribe lived by the side of Sacred Mountain, and they had built a large city there. His werewolf cavalry was not the most elite of the werewolf nation, but it was the largest. Therefore, Uruk could become the representative of Sacred Mountain’s rangers and assume the responsibility of commander in this joint operation.

Well-equipped elite knights and mage soldiers departed from Hodeceus and divided themselves into three teams to enter Sacred Mountain, joining the werewolf soldiers who were waiting there. Next, they would enter Sacred Mountain under the guidance of the werewolves, and the three teams of soldiers would go deep into the mountain separately. Hao Ren and Ophra’s team were traveling with the largest main forces. Werewolf General Elson and Cardinal Orben led two of the teams. As Big Beardy was an ascetic, he was in the third team.

The knights quickly arrived at the rendezvous point, joining the werewolves. Lily stood on a boulder and took a deep breath. “Ahh—the air of my hometown…”

Nangong Sanba looked at Lily, whispering to Hao Ren, “Is she sure that Holletta’s her hometown?”

“We can’t help it. There’s no origin of the werewolves other than the Plane of Dreams, and I haven’t found another case of husky transcendence.” Hao Ren forced a smile. “So, let’s just assume that Holletta’s her home.”

Nangong Wuyue had shapeshifted into a snake. Her upper body rose to a height of nearly three meters, allowing her to have a better view of the situation ahead on the mountain road. “Uruk said he would be waiting here ahead of time. Why isn’t he here yet?”

A werewolf aide-de-camp next to Ophra said, “Chief Uruk is coming with his battle wolves. He should be here anytime now.”

As soon as the aide-de-camp’s voice trailed off, up in the air, Nangong Wuyue loudly said, “Oh, oh, oh, see! That’s a werewolf cavalry!”

Dust billowed from a distant mountain trail, and the sound of heavy footsteps was heard amid the dust. Dozens of black figures galloped from a distance. Uruk was leading a team of fully-armed werewolf fighters and coming up before them. These warriors were each wearing a rough, black leather armor with a huge cavalry saber behind them, and an animal teeth necklace, which acted as an ornament as well as kill record on their necks. There was no heavy armor. Their rides were huge, black wolves—a kind of savage beast with bony plates on its waist, and it was several sizes bigger than Earth’s wolves. Due to their special skeleton, these wolves were rideable.

Dozens of werewolf cavalry soldiers ran from afar and stopped less than 10 m in front of the knights. Each wolf had no extra moves, and all stopped in a straight-line formation. Their uniformity was unimaginable given the fact that it was a group of untamed beasts. The werewolves lived with their war wolves all year round. Their talent allowed them to communicate with these beasts with no difficulty. Therefore, they matched each other and became the most powerful ground unit in the world. Seeing it for the first time today, they were sure enough… well, really neat.

Hao Ren was only a layman, so he could only see that they were “really neat”.

The werewolf cavalry was in black attire, which looked like camouflage in night combat. In reality, the black armor and black wolves had nothing to do with camouflage. That was just their traditional battle outfit. Even when they went up to the snow-capped mountain, they would still be wearing this contrasting outfit. This had to do with their customs and practices. It was hard to explain to outsiders.

Uruk came up to Ophra riding his battle wolf. “You can’t control the wolf. You can only go on foot in the mountains. To be honest, I don’t think it’s a good idea—the knights are very powerful, but as an infantry, I don’t think so.”

Ophra smiled indifferently. “Do you think that the knights I personally brought out can only ride on horseback? We’ve knocked down the 200,000 barbarians in the swamp from the south before. Let’s move. Hopefully, the nose of your werewolf cavalry is as powerful as they say in the legends to sniff out the cultists from the cracks in the rocks.”

Uruk smiled as if Ophra’s “I-don’t-give-a-sh*t” answer had impressed him. Before he ordered his forces to move on, Hao Ren hurriedly asked, “Everyone, check your protective crystals. Have all of you put it on?”

Ophra turned and waved to the knights. “All squadron commanders, check that all the soldiers have the protective crystals by raising up their hands. Report it if anyone loses it.”

Uruk also said to his cavalry, “Check your crystals! It’s a life-saving gadget!”

The soldiers raised their protective crystals before they set off. Hao Ren had brought the crystals out from the Crapple Research Station, CARS. These crystals were piling up in CARS; thousands of pieces could be knocked off from any surface there. So, Hao Ren had simply given one to each soldier. Ophra took out her own crystal and looked at it. “Unbelievable… Such a small stone can suppress the mind control powers of the brain monster. Even the mentally-strongest cardinal we sent failed to reach the main peak.”

The wolf Uruk was riding had been staring at Hao Ren curiously since the beginning. Now, he could not help but spurt and murmur in the human language, “Wait a second. Are you the hard man?”

Hao Ren was a little baffled by how the wolf addressed him. When he remembered the wolf who spoke, he staggered. “…Alpha? The one on the steppe?”

The black wolf sized him and his entourage up, appearing surprised as well. “Oh, it’s really you. I wasn’t so sure at first. It’s so difficult to differentiate you humans, I can’t even tell your genders apart. But, it’s thanks to your smell, it hasn’t changed. Why did you come here?”

Hao Ren and his little buddies—who had previously met the alpha wolf—were all shocked. They never thought to see the alpha wolf there. Lily sniffled and asked, “Oh, it’s really you. I’ve also wanted to ask you—how did you come here? Aren’t you staying in the steppe?”

“It’s a long story… A gust of wind blew on the steppe, the seasons changed, many animals migrated, and wolves had to look for a new dwelling place. Fortunately, with my great wisdom, I brought my fellow wolves and found a new home here…”

Everyone, from the generals to the soldiers, was rooted to the spot. Even Uruk was wide-eyed; he was experiencing the awkward most situation in his life.

As the commander, he was being left out in the cold while everyone, including his ride was chatting with the others…

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Chapter 669: In the Mountains

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

No one seemed to have noticed Uruk’s awkwardness. Despite being in despair, the leader of the pack continued to chat with his old acquaintance. Hao Ren still remembered the first time he entered the Plane of Dreams, where he wandered about aimlessly. Due to that, he had some fondness for the alpha wolf, the first being he met in the area. After a while, Hao Ren understood why the alpha wolf had moved from the great plains to the snowy mountains. These places were not nearby, and the difference in the environment was like heaven and earth. If not for necessity, the wolf pack would not have moved.

Basically, the climate in the steppe had changed.

The collapse of Dragonspine Ridge had a more pronounced effect than initially thought. After the collapse of the range, the western side of the mountain had lost its barrier and humidity flooded straight into the Sacred Mountains and coastal area around it. At the same time, the seasonal ocean wind also came blowing unimpeded into the plains, bringing lower temperature and salinity into the area. Many of the plant life along the western coast of the plain could not adapt to the changes and the shortage of grazing options forced the herbivores to move into the Northern Kingdom to look for fresh grazing grounds. Thus, the hunters on the plains had to move in order to hunt too, and they went northwards or eastwards after their prey. The alpha wolf however, led his kin in the other direction. He came directly to the Sacred Mountain. As the alpha wolf had intelligence beyond most animals, he concluded that trying to get a piece of a pie in an already reduced herd of preys was not a good idea. Plus, with the arduous journey to the north, his pack may not fare as well as others. Thus, it decided to come to the west.

While the number of prey were also reduced on the western plains, it was not to the point where it would cause starvation. Many more resilient preys still remained, and comparatively, the situation was better than that of the north. Furthermore, the werewolves also lived in these lands. While distinctly different, everyone knew that the two distant kins were close. The alpha wolf had pondered hard for a place where his pack could stay and after a good while, he decided to bring his pack to Uruk’s tribe.

And after scaring the hide out of the local werewolf tribe, the intelligent, talking wolves joined them.

Hao Ren never thought that while he was out saving worlds, the wolf pack had an adventure of their own as well. He gave the alpha wolf a weird look. “I understand what you’re on about, but aren’t you plain wolves? Can you adapt to life here?”

“Why not?” The confusion was apparent on the alpha wolf’s face. “We just happened to live in the plains, but our kind lives in the mountains too.”

Hao Ren immediately realized that he was working under the assumption that the wolves there operated the same as the ones on Earth.

The pack of talking wolves had shocked their humanoid kin as the alpha wolf had led his pack in relative seclusion. Even when they met humans, they had never shown that special ability of theirs. Everyone knew that the mages of yore had created many animals, but no one had seen such engineered offsprings; the werewolves included. But it did not take too long for them to gain each other’s trust, and the path the alpha wolf took was right, as communicating with the werewolves was much easier than humans.

Hao Ren and the alpha wolf chatted for a while before it got on Uruk’s nerves. He stuck his neck out with a weird expression before blurting out, “Are you two done?”

The alpha wolf looked back at Uruk. “What hurry are you in? It’s been a while since I’ve met an acquaintance…”

Uruk was speechless. Whatever Uruk had meant to say was now stuck in his throat as his pumped-up soldiers gathered around him. Seeing the situation, Hao Ren waved his hand to save face. “Alright, alright, time to work, time to work.”

The alpha wolf let out a grunt as Uruk lowered himself to his mount. “So… let’s go?”

As the werewolf cavalry turned to leave, Hao Ren and the rest followed from behind. Nangong Wudi was impressed. “Never in my life have I seen someone having to discuss with his mount before taking off…”

Hao Ren looked at the MDT, which was lying on his shoulder before quipping, “Have you seen someone having to discuss with his own PDA before tuning into a channel?”

Ophra looked dumbfounded throughout the whole process and felt that Hao Ren as well as his crew were the most remarkable group she had ever seen in her life. “You sure have many interesting things happening around you, eh?”

Hao Ren sighed. “Next time, don’t believe the job ads by the roadside when you’re out looking for a job.”

Ophra was utterly confused. “Huh?”

With the werewolf cavalry leading the way, the Hollettan soldiers carefully marched into the sacred yet mysterious ancient mountain, following a winding mountain path deep into the heart of the mountain. The mountain path was treacherous and many places did not have a path so to speak. The foot soldiers could only trudge on slowly, and even the cavalry moved at a slow pace. Hao Ren walked next to Uruk, surveying the area as he asked, “How does it feel, having a war wolf who can talk?”

Hao Ren’s prior impression of Uruk was that he was not approachable. However, he was actually not someone who shied away from talking. After pondering for a bit, he replied, sounding slightly dejected, “It’s a fresh experience, and having such an intelligent war wolf as a partner is pretty great.”

Hao Ren immediately knew a pivot was coming. “So, you found out belatedly that things weren’t that rosy?”

Uruk’s face stiffened. “…It could talk better than me, and talk to anyone within sight…”

The werewolf was not even done complaining yet. There was much to point out after all. His mount had better oratory skills than him; it even knew astrology, geomancy, history and current happenings (based on a wolf’s standards at least). He would give thanks to nature for every meal. He demanded that he slept north facing south. Even before going out on a hunt, he would insist on performing his morning aerobics. But most fascinating of all, this wolf read! Like his life depended on it! He actually took the chieftain’s mark to the library to get himself a lifetime pass without Uruk noticing. If not for the library only accepting signatures and not paw marks, the alpha wolf would have succeeded!

At this point, even a chieftain of Uruk’s stature had some grumbles of his own. Sighing deeply, he continued, “He even argued with the tribe’s shaman a few days ago, and the shaman has locked himself in to rethink life.”

Hao Ren did not pretend to know what life was in a werewolf tribal nation, but he could totally imagine what the alpha wolf did. It was plainly obvious from Uruk’s expression. He looked sympathetically at Uruk, knowing that “having a mount who had a sharper wit than you” was something rather depressing. He grinned in reply. “I know, I know. But, you need to take this into account. He’s smart and willing to be your mount. That’s not a common thing to encounter.”

Uruk looked at Hao Ren. “You may be right, but I don’t think any normal person would understand me. Have you lost an argument to your horse before?”

Hao Ren sighed as he picked up his MDT. “You see… This is my… hmm… notebook. Something similar to your recording stones. MDT, play a tune or two, get the mood going.”

“You silly sod, select it yourself. How would I know what you want to listen.”

Hao Ren shrugged. “There you go.”

Uruk gave the MDT a perplexed look before his expression changed. “You and I can be good friends.”

Hao Ren was surprised to find that the werewolf chieftain actually had a sense of humor.

The rest looked on as Hao Ren and Uruk chatted away. They were all rather surprised as well. Lily nudged Ophra by the arm. ” I realized that Mr. Landlord is really good at socializing. Uruk and I are the same kind, but even I haven’t found the opportunity to speak to him yet.”

Becky extended her neck to have a look at the two. “What are they talking so excitedly about?”

Y’zaks summarized it succinctly. “Perspective.”

Nangong Sanba looked at the demon. “How do you know?”

“The only thing that one can talk with him so excitedly is perspective.”

As Uruk and Hao Ren chatted and walked, the group was nearing the area designated as a “Mind Control Danger Zone”.

At the fork in front of them, Hao Ren saw a tribal flag standing in solitary by the side of the mountain path. On it was a very obvious red mark. Uruk immediately stopped the chatter as his face turned serious. “The danger zone is before us. Be alert.”

Chapter 670: Disruption

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

 

As Hao Ren and the accompanying troops stepped on the Sacred Mountain’s main peak, two other battalions also entered the area via different entrances.

As the sweep for the last of the heretics came into full swing, thousands of Royal as well as Church Knights quickly fanned out through the various mountain passes, forming hundreds of search and destroy parties. Each party was led by members of the werewolf cavalry. With the main search parties in the mountain, more regular soldiers set up checkpoints on every mountain path leading in or out of the mountains to prevent any cult members from escaping.

In the skies above the Sacred Mountain, a shadowy magical eye floated quietly. Countless invisible strands ran from the magical eye as it encompassed the entire region. This was a massive, divine area spell cast by the pope himself. Using the spell, the pope could scan the movement of everything within the mountain range, even the lightest footsteps of a mountain rabbit. Only the unusual dimension deep within the mountain was beyond his sight.

Hodeceus floated above the eastern part of the crystal mine, facing the Sacred Mountain directly; almost like a standoff between two primal beasts. The shield-like bastion in the front of the flying fortress radiated with magical light. A part of the crystalline wall retracted into the interior of the fortress as massive arcane cannons reared their head, glowing majestically. The cannons then synchronized with the magical inscriptions on the wall of the fortress. They were Hodeceus’ most potent weaponry.

The cannons were coldly aimed at the Sacred Mountain as the mages directing them could not help but wipe cold sweat off their foreheads. Within Hodeceus’ command center, a few mages were monitoring the fortress and the Sacred Mountain for any signs of movement through water screen. Prince Hoffman’s shiny bald head was even more apparent as he wiped his sweat off and shook his head at the crowd around him. “If we really fire that thing, the world is going to hell.”

“Hence why we can only pray. Pray that the goddess will guide our hands against firing towards the Sacred Mountain.” A bishop placed his hand on his head as he prayed. “Goddess have mercy. May our brave knights succeed in their quest to rid us of the heretics and their evil patron.”

Beneath the command center was an even more secretive room. It was a plain simple room with many sacred relics and religious texts of the Disciples of Glory. The pope was standing in the middle of it, meditating. He gently opened his eyes as golden light radiated from his left eye, and within the reflection was every movement within the mountain, including the search parties sweeping through the area. His left eye was looking at a portrait not too far away from him. The portrait was made up of a series of crisscrossing red and black lines. It was the symbol used by the Disciples of Glory to depict the goddess.

While the portrait looked like it was a simple canvas portrait without any magical enchantment, there were microscopic movements, as though it was alive. It was actually forming into various mystical shapes. The red lines in the middle of the portrait suddenly expanded in the pope’s eyes, transmitting a very cryptic will from the goddess.

“A warning…” The pope mumbled, as though he heard the goddess’ voice. “We have already obtained such a powerful flying fortress… what are you trying to warn us against?”

At the same time, within the Sacred Mountain, Hao Ren and his group had stepped into the snow-covered area.

The knightly orders had also split into about a dozen small combat teams as planned. With the werewolf cavalry leading the way, they started scouring the mountain. They were now constantly communicating using arcane magic as they went. Hao Ren and the rest followed Uruk towards the deepest part of the mountain. The plan was to have the knights engage the cultists of the Cult of Origination while Hao Ren and his spearhead charge into the epicenter of the psychokinetic field to capture the brain monster. But oddly enough, there were no signs of heretics this deep into the mountains, despite some traces of activity. Hence, it was even less likely for actual combat to break out.

Vivian took out her protective crystal and noticed that it was emanating a gentle glow. “There’s psychological disturbance here… We’ve probably entered the monster’s domain. Why aren’t there any enemies before us?”

“Yeah, I didn’t even see a shadow of any of the cultists.” Hao Ren was perplexed too. “Uruk, didn’t your men face resistance before when they scoured the mountains? Why is today so quiet?”

“They did come by.” Uruk had already dismounted from his war wolf. He got on all fours as he sniffed the air. “There’s still remnants of human scent. Outsiders, but from a day ago.”

“The mountain has been sealed off. Even if they were to fly, it’s unlikely that they escaped.” A slight clattering of armor announced her presence as Lady Ophra approached. “Seems like they’ve all gone hiding.”

Y’zaks looked at the mountain range before throwing Uruk a curious glance. “Say… haven’t your kin been monitoring this mountain, yet never once detected the trace of the cult members before this? They even managed to build a base inside this place… That’s rather incredible.”

When the conversation pivoted to that topic, Uruk, as the leader of the werewolf cavalry, had a very complicated expression. He shook his head. “This is a disgrace, but truthfully, I still don’t believe something like this could happen… Our patrols roam the land every day and we’ve gone through all the paths in the mountain, yet we have never seen any outsiders… Unfathomable… Truly unfathomable. I don’t know how to even begin explaining this.”

Something came to Hao Ren’s mind as Uruk spoke; it was a brief flash of thought and Hao Ren could not actually grasp it.

Uruk continued to lead the rest into the mountain as the path appeared more and more treacherous. He had to rely on his experience to pick the safest path up the mountain to avoid a potential avalanche. The 200-year-old werewolf knew the place like the back of his hand. He had the confidence to find his way back home even while blindfolded. But as he headed deeper, something did not feel right.

Nangong Sanba noticed Uruk slowing down and his expression turning grim. Nervous, the demon hunter asked, “What’s wrong?”

Uruk frowned as he looked at the path in front of him before taking a few more steps. After reaching a fork, he scratched his head, looking like a lost tourist. Circling the area for a bit, the werewolf looked up at the familiar Scorching Peak. “The direction is correct…”

“But this path is not as I remembered it!” Uruk finally turned back to inform the rest. Incredulity was pronounced in his voice. “There should not be a fork here… I’ve gone through this path hundreds of times. I don’t remember seeing a path leading into the valley.”

As he spoke, he frowned again and looked at the valley. “…This is not right… I don’t even remember a valley being here.”

“You sure?” Ophra asked, her voice sounding exasperated. “A werewolf can actually get lost in the Sacred Mountain?”

“I have no clue.” Uruk pointed at the fork. “I’m very familiar with the path on this side of the fork, but I have no inkling of the path on the other side.”

Hao Ren suddenly remembered something. “Wait, you remember what was on the right side of the fork? Rock formations? Valleys? Or something else?”

Uruk frowned again as he demurred. Shortly after, he was shocked to find that he had no memory of what was on the right side of the fork.

No rock formations, no valleys, nothing, as he tried to recall. He realized that he had never deigned to see what was on the right side of the path, which he frequented. There was nothing in his memory!

“I think I know what’s going on now.” Hao Ren knew the answer as he saw Uruk’s expression. “I doubt any other werewolf has seen this path too. Your senses have been disrupted.”

Uruk was stunned.

“I’m afraid that the entire mountain has been under the disruptive effect.” Hao Ren looked at everyone around him. “Everyone passing by this place would have their senses distorted to ignore what’s on the other side of the road. Even if you think back to it, nothing out of the ordinary will arise. The brain monster has already ‘taken’ this entire place from the ‘sight’ of mortal races. That’s why the heretics could be so brazen and set up camp here.”

A faint expression of shock appeared on Lady Ophra’s face. “…How long has this disruption been going on?”

“The humans won’t realize when they started to fall asleep.” Vivian suddenly spoke as she looked at Uruk. “Since the dawn of the werewolves’ history, have you actually seen this valley within the Sacred Mountain? Do your maps cover this region?”

Uruk turned silent as a foreboding chill began to engulf Becky.